Katy Müller

Katy Müller has spent over 10 years working as a graphic designer. After completing her Abitur qualifications she studied under Professor Ruedi Baurat the Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts from 1993. In 1996, during the studies,

she completed a semester abroad at the Zurich University of the Arts. In 1999 she moved to Berlin, gathering interdisciplinary experience during the »Berlin semester« at Pixelpark, Scholz & Friends, n-tv und taz. She worked as a graphic designer at K-Plex (PLEX GmbH) followed by HaynWillemeit Media GmbH. Following a design position in Sydney with Wishart Design she spent two years with her own office in Stuttgart. In 2003 she began her collaboration with Nathanaël Gourdin, resulting in the founding of Gourdin & Müller in 2006.

Nathanaël Gourdin

Nathanaël Gourdin (D/F) was born in 1975, the son of a German mother and a French father, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye (France). Fascinated by cars and car design, at the age of nine he had already decided to devote his career to design. In 1992 he began studies in Design at the École régionale des Beaux-Arts de Saint-Étienne (now École supérieure d’art et design Saint-Etienne). In the scope of an exchange he spent two semesters at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava (Vysoká Škola Výtvarných Umení) in 1995-96. In 1997 he completed his diploma in the field of Furniture Design with the DNSEP (Diplôme national supérieur d'expression plastique) under the tutelage of Éric Jourdan. Following an internship with interior designer and architect Andrée Putman he worked at Intégral Ruedi Baur & Associés in Paris. In 1999 he relocated to Leipzig for Intégral, founding the agency konzeptMWNG, specialising in the design of rail vehicles, in 2000. The collaboration with Katy Müller that began in 2003 led to the founding of the Gourdin & Müller office in 2006.

Nathanaël Gourdin and Katy Müller share a love of detail and inquisitive- ness. Each task brings with it the challenge of visualising complex interconnections via the structuring of content and sophisticated design. The objective of every debate is the formulation of solutions that can provide identity. The synergy of structural context, thematic character and contemporary interpretation forms the foundation of our approach. Innovative manufacturing procedures and the unusual use of materials are characteristic of the realisations.

Lecturing and university projects also form elements of the field of activity of Gourdin & Müller.